Briggs: College football is becoming comical

I’m not going to take up much of your time today. What I have to say won’t take long. Let’s talk about college football for just a minute.

I’m not going to talk about the Alabama-LSU game in depth. We could spend hours banging our heads against a wall arguing whether that was a good game or not but the reality is, it was horribly boring and failed to live up to the billing as the game of the century. I don’t want to see those two teams play again — not this year. Go find a quarterback and some creative offense then come see me. I want to see Stanford play LSU for the national championship game. I’d even take an Oklahoma State or Boise State against LSU matchup. I want to see that so-called awesome defense challenged by a real quarterback like Andrew Luck or Kellen Moore or a lights out offense like Oklahoma State’s because we really don't know if it's that good. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

I’m going to waste my time talking about the state of college football. The scandal happening at Penn State is just the latest example of how out of control the institution has become. And when I mean institution I’m talking about the machine — the power structure that controls the landscape.

Things are out of control and it’s because of what the NCAA has allowed to happen. In the past six months we’ve seen more scandals and more conference defections than we can keep track of and there’s been very little accountability. It’s almost like every other week something new pops up. I guess it’s good for whoever’s in the spotlight at the time because the focus changes like the weather. This lack of accountability continues to stoke the fire.

According to reports, this thing at Penn State wasn’t handled properly (what a surprise) and has been going on for a long time. Granted, we can’t throw the NCAA under the bus on this one at this point because we’re still learning about it and there’s much information we don’t have. But how is it this story breaks the day after Joe Paterno sets the record for coaching wins in Division 1? Come on. When is someone or something going to make it stop?

I’m working on my own plan which I won’t share today but as usual I have an idea based on common sense that works for the greater good of the majority and spits in the face of those who are the root of the problem. I’ll publish that at a later time. The quick answer to above question is, until college football separates itself from the NCAA, the problems will continue.

Until everyone and I mean everyone in college football adopts a bit of humility, college football will continue to lose credibility. Since that won't happen, it will likely come down to some hostile takeover. I doubt the government will interfere (as it shouldn't) but how many times does it have to come down to that possibility? These problems always come down to that. Nobody does the right thing and some committee backed by the U.S. government has to intervene. In other words, you couldn't behave on your own so now we have to make you do what's right or else.

Right now there’s no integrity in college football. There’s no playoff for a champion and we are at the mercy of opinion and perception to determine who gets to play for all the marbles. When we can say Boise State is in an eastern conference team despite its geographic location in Idaho and Missouri is a southeastern team, we have obviously made money the priority. Both of those moves are in the work and are just two of the many conference defections in the works. I know the Atlanta Braves used to be a National League West team for years but thankfully Major League Baseball worked that out. There is no such priority in college football under the NCAA’s rule. None whatsoever. It's all about money. Straight up greed.

I have about as much faith in college football (and basketball too) under the NCAA as I do the economy turning around under its current direction. In both instances the machine is run by power/money hungry egomaniacs that are only proactive when setting up their personal safety nets. Give me a break. Things won't change until we get rid of every one of these power brokers.

Like I said, I’ll have more on this in the future. I just needed to get this off my chest. Of course my outlook won’t change until some major overhaul happens. Right now, I don’t see any hope on the horizon.

Being the optimist I am, I'll look at the bright side. At least we won't have to watch LSU and Alabama play again this year.